Extension of the UK Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) competition to include gas as well as coal demonstration projects, has been proposed by the Committee on Climate Change. In a letter to Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne, the committee also suggests extending the proposed Emissions Performance Standard to cover new gas plant added to the system from 2020.
The letter, from Committee chairman Lord Adair Turner, recommends a coherent approach to all conventional fossil fuel generation (i.e. coal and gas), building on the current coal-focused approach.
Given new evidence on the potential competitiveness of gas CCS with other forms of low carbon generation, and the very limited international effort to develop this technology, the Committee suggests that serious consideration should be given to funding at least one gas CCS demonstration project as part of the four coal CCS demonstration projects committed to in the Coalition Agreement.
CCS is a technology which, if proven at large-scale, could very significantly reduce emissions of carbon from burning coal and gas to produce electricity. The Committee’s analysis shows that the path to meeting the UK’s 2050 target to reduce emissions by 80 per cent requires that the power sector is largely decarbonised in the period to 2030 — e.g. average emissions should be around 100g/kWh in 2030, compared to around 500g/kWh today.
